oStrong family structures were necessary because the
family was the basis for all other institutions. The government, church and
community all worked through the nuclear family unit.

Male
Roles

“I am
perpetually taken up giving out orders, in prescribing duties, in hearing
parties [disputes], in administering justice, and in distributing rewards and
punishments…In short, I look upon my family as a patriarchal sovereign, in
which I am myself both king and priest.” – 1712 Spectator magazine
contributor

oAs children, boys would have learned what it
meant to be a man from the example of their fathers.

oThey also would have read the lengthy instruction
in proper behavior in The New England Primer.

oOnce they were apprenticed, boys were expected to
learn and perform the duties of adult tradesmen.

vWhat it
meant to “Be a Man” in Colonial Society

oTo have
social power - As Colonial society was intensely patriarchal,
men enjoyed power in both private and public life.

oTo be
educated – Boys were able to attend grammar schools and
attain a college education if their families could afford it.

oTo
contribute to the community – In general, the products of
men’s labor were enjoyed by the whole community.

oTo
participate in government – Men could serve as public
officials, or simply participate in government by voting.

oTo own
property – Men inherited and bought land much more
frequently than women did. A man’s right to vote also necessitated owning land
in the early Colonial period.

oTo
maintain a family– Men were expected to provide
adequately for their families and to control the behavior of their families.
Men were seen to be the representatives for their families in public.

vPassing
on Knowledge

oMen assisted their wives in the literacy
instruction of their young children.

oOnce children had mastered basic literacy,
fathers took on the responsibility of teaching them writing and mathematics,
skills they would need later in life.

Female
Roles

“Let
your Dress, your Conversation and the whole Business of your life be to please
your husband and make him happy.”

Mrs.
David Simmons
Painted by John Singleton Copley

vGrowing
up Female

oGirls learned their gender roles from the example
of their mothers.

oThey were also informed by the Primer (to a
lesser extent than boys) what it meant to be good or bad.

oBy the age of thirteen, girls were expected to
share in all the tasks of adult women.

vWhat it
meant to be a Woman in Colonial Society

oTo
maintain household order – Women took care of young
children, bought and prepared food, directed the activities of indentured
servants or slaves, and performed all manner of other household chores.

oTo encourage
faith and moral development - Mothers were often the
primary spiritual instructors in the home, especially in the latter part of the
Seventeenth Century.

oTo be
subordinate to men – A woman’s identity and property were
always connected with the men in her life. As a child, she would have been
subordinate to her father. Upon marriage, she would have become a feme
covert; her identity and property then transferred to her husband.

vWomen’s
Work

oWomen living in the country were expected to do
their productive work inside the home. Generally this work was done for the
benefit of the family, and not the outside world. “Women’s Work” would have
included such activities as spinning, weaving and churning.

oWomen living in cities would have engaged in
similar tasks, but also had the option of hiring themselves out in the
community. These women would have served as seamstresses or nurses.

oMidwives – Prior to the mid Eighteenth Century,
female midwives attended to the births of children.

oFeme Sole Traders – Some women did run their own
business establishments. Known as “Feme Sole Traders”, these women had no other
means of supporting themselves. The town councils granted them the right to own
a business to keep them off public relief.

vPassing
on Knowledge

oMothers who could read taught that skill to all
their children.

oWomen were in charge of the education of their
daughters in all matters female.

Enforcing
Gender Roles

vThe
Quaker meeting

oQuaker communities often met as separate men’s
and women’s meetings.

oMen’s meetings discouraged masters from owning
slaves, disciplined husbands and fathers for abuse of wives and children,
punished fornication, and dealt with other organizational and judicial aspects
of Quaker community life.

oWomen’s meetings assumed the responsibility for
monitoring family life, mediating family disputes, and disciplining members who
stepped out of line. They also approved marriages before any ceremony took
place

vThe Courts

oMany legal cases admonished adult men and women
for not behaving as they should.

The
Copley Family
Painted by John Singleton Copley, 1776-1777 Oil on Canvas, National Gallery of
Art, Washington DC

Breaking
the Roles

vPublic
Misbehavior

oMen did not often step outside of their
traditional gender roles. There was simply no need for it. They enjoyed all the
freedom they wanted.

oWomen, however, lacked the same type of freedom,
and often got into trouble for achieving positions of power.

vSectarian churches – The
Methodists, African Methodists, the Freewill and Separate Baptists, and the
Quakers all allowed women into the pulpit. This was the highest position in any
Protestant church that women could hope to achieve.

vItinerant Preaching – A
female itinerant preacher would have traveled about the colonies preaching the
word of God as she understood it. With no place to call home, these women were
often seen as vagrants bound to disturb the morality of the towns they visited.
Consequently, female preachers faced jeers, catcalls and all manner of other
abuse from the citizens of the towns they visited. Sometimes the preachers’
sexuality was questioned as well because public speaking was seen as a very
un-feminine activity.

vAnne Hutchinson –
Although she was not allowed to speak in church because of her gender, she felt
certain that Biblical teachings entitled her to freedom of speech in private
confines. Consequently, Hutchinson often
invited people to her home to discuss sermons and spiritual matters. The church
leaders were shocked by her behavior. Despite her insistence that her actions
were defended by scripture, they tried her as a heretic and removed her from Massachusetts
Bay.

vPunishment

oWomen who stepped outside of the traditional
gender roles were especially dangerous. They represented a world turned upside
down; a world in which men simply were unable to make sense of their position.
Men had been socialized from birth to be in control of their families and
society. Their collective insecurity about their social place contributed to
their harsh treatment of women who stepped outside the traditional gender roles
of Colonial life.

oWomen who “broke the roles” faced public
ridicule, and occasional legal admonishment for their actions.

oIn the late 1600s, trials for fornication and
infanticide specifically directed at women increased.

oAnd of course, the fail-safe plan for dealing
with women in power: Witchcraft accusations. This punishment was particularly
effective because the woman accused was rarely able to gain public support for
her cause.